Thomas County cat. [volume] (Colby, Kan.) 1885-1891, 1887-12-01
FOREIGN GOSSIP.

/ FOREIGN GOSSIP.
The River Turia, at point thirty.
five miles away. is to be utilized for
running the factories of Valencia.
Spain. The three-thousand-hor
power available will be transmitted
by electricity.
| Switzerland has recently adopted
q law placing the sale and manufact-
ure of wines and liquors in the hands
of the government. The law was
passed to insure the purity of any
| liquor offered for sale. 1t is hardly
likely that it will accomplish the de-
sired result, as there will still be
opportunities for fraud.
The government of the State of
Yucatan. Mexico. is making experi-
ments on a new species of silk, pro-
duced by wild silkworm. which is
closely allied to the domestic silkworm.
The silk on the cocoons is elastic and
of excellent quality, though rather un-
certain in color. varying from white to
pale brown, but one difficulty is that
it is covered with gum which is very
difficult to dissolve.
Two tons of ivory from the Congo
reached Europe lately as the result of
the Sanford trading expedition. The
gentleman referred to is Mr.. Henry
NJ Sanford. once minister to Belgium
and now Louisiana sugar planter
and Florida orange grower. Stanley
seized his steamer in the Congo for
purposes of the expedition. and re-
stored it when he had used it. A lack
of steamboat engineers on the Congo
is the greatest impeliment trade en-
counters there. Public Opinion
"A report based upon an inspection
of 1.2l4 factories in 125 different
branches of work in Russia states that
the hours of labor there vary from six
to twenty, and that in one or two
special instances workmen Avere COM
peeled to labor twenty-four hours un-
intelruptedly. These differences are
purely arbitrary and rot controlled by
the kind of the work. In the same
district in the same sort of work there
is some times difference of eleven
hours in the amount of work required
in a day in the different factories
"A report com es from the East that
there has been discovered in British
India a blossom of such sacharine
properties that it is destined to revOlu-
tionize the sugar business of the world.
1t is the flower of mahwa. or NICOLA, a
tree of large size, which abounds in
the southern portion of Hindostan.
This blossom has sweet taste, and
yields one-half its weight in sugar.
The Hindoos have for long period
been accustomed to extract a syrup
from the mahwa's flowers, but in the
most primitive fashion. without At
tempting to develop process y
Herald.
"A marble tablet recently found in
an ancient sepulcher On the Via Por-
tuensis. Rome. is apparently work
of the first century. 1t represents a
naked youth. with long. dishcvelled
hair. defending himself against two
women, one facing him and the other
attacking him from behind. The wom-
en- brandish thyrsa RESEMBLING lances
in one hand. and serpent winds it.
self around The other arm of each. and
they seem rs if about to fling them at
the face of the youth. Archmologists
are puzzled to know what it is all
about. but guess itrepresents the fate Of
P''ntheus, who was torn in pieces by
Mmnads on Mount Cithmron for hav-
ing rcviled the Bacchic mysteries.
Climate of India. Meteorological
reports from the Punjab Province of
British India give mean rainfall of
29.1 inches for 1886. ranging from
S. inches at Abbotabad to 4. inches
a, Muzaffargarh. not including the
extraordinary fall of 1915 inches at
Dharmsala. The highest temperature
in the suns rays was 1873 degrees at
Lahore on April 90 and it ranged
from 172 to It's degrees in the five
succeeding months. The greatest
maximum in III, shade was 118 de-
grces at two stations on April Is. and
the absolute minimum in the shade
was 50 degrees at Rawalpindi in
February. -Arkansaw Iraueler.
THE UBIQUITOUS JEW.